What should someone who is new to magic the gathering know?

>>49394004
How to play the game. Check rulings on gatherer if you have issues. When you trade use a website like tcgplayer to trade for equivalent dollar value, trading for estimated value will only lead to you getting card sharked. Remember that the point is to have fun, if you aren't enjoying playing stop and get out.

>>49394004
The horrors of cardboard crack addiction.

>>49394004
Cards aren't cheap; if you want to get in, it's best to start with draft events or with some friends who are also looking at getting into the game. Play that way until you're ready to move up to more competitive play, and always ALWAYS ask a judge/person who can be trusted if you're not sure of something.
Otherwise, play online and find a deck archetype you like, find a good modern/standard deck that plays that way, and get ready to drop between $100-$800 depending on the format.

>>49394004
Run now and never look back.

>>49394004
>how the stack works
For just about any level of play. Understanding how interactions work is everything. Knowing you can cast lightning bolt on your opponent's 1/1 soldier they casted giant growth on will kill it before the giant growth resolves kind of thing.

>what makes a card good in the format(s) you play
Knowing this involves understanding strategies and deck archetypes. Your deck needs a game plan and everything in your deck should contribute to it in some way shape or form.

>real estate is everything and always worth investing in
Playing most formats at any decent level requires a good mana base. Worthwhile lands can be expensive but they can do anything from pushing your deck over the top to making it playable to begin with. They may be expensive, but they rarely lose value and can be easily traded.

>>49394004
Honestly the rules and all that will come in time, buying cards and all that you'll get the hang of. learn core concepts of the game like card advantage, sequencing, and all that and you will be in a much better place with the game.

Know ALL the rules.

>>49394198
thats decent advice once you've got your footing.

its better to have a deck thats all commons that consists of relevant cards in playsets than multiple powerful cards that you only have one or two of. generally new players hate blue, so if you plan on getting friends into the game, let them really feel the game out before going in on blue when playing them.

a lot of the packaged stuff got re-done and i dont recall exact details, but here's my 2 cents of the existing product.

intro packs are a complete scam. you're better off building a deck out of commons you find laying around.

event decks are decent but these got discontinued i believe.

deck builders toolkits are hardly worth it, but if you have absolutely no cards (or close to it) they can be decent because they give you land a nice glimpse at cards many players use as a bench mark for judging other cards.

duel decks are fun and pretty cool, but they arent really useful for getting rare cards or building one "good" deck out of. if you get a duel deck its probably best to keep them as is and play them specifically against each other. or other duel decks.

fat packs are pretty good for starting out as well! they provide some booster packs, land, a card catalog, and a storage box. i think these got canned though, so you wont see any around for kaladesh (the new set thats about to release) but dont quote me.

buying singles will save more money than buying packs and getting lucky. you migh know someone who is super lucky with packs, but at the end of the day, that $4 you spend on a pack could be 4-16 playable cards. this is ESPECIALLY true when starting out.

dont give into hype. you will see cards that cost lots and look cool/fun to use in stores. 80% you wont use them right until you really get a grasp on the strategies of the game. when you're buying a card thats more than $5, make sure you know why it costs that much and ask yourself: am i going to put this card to good use?

>>49394004
Blue is broken, if you want to win a lot then play U

Anyone got a link for a general guide?

The game is literally a giant scam. Expect to be completely ripped off for cardboard rectangles.

>>49394354
Fat Packs got canned and the new Kaladesh Bundle packs are 10-30% more efficient for opening and selling the goodies individually than booster boxes, so don't expect to be able to get your hands on those. Gift Boxes are exceptionally limited for Kaladesh, and I THINK the same might be true for DBTKs. So yeah, figuring out what to do online then buying singles looks like the best option for a newcomer; ignore my draft advice if you're already familiar with the rules through online play/play with friends.

get a good grasp on "mana curve"
it refers to two things, depending on context.

a deck's mana curve is examining all the converted mana costs (total amount of mana you need to cast a card; the short hand is CMC) in the deck, and looking at where your deck contains the most cards in terms of coverted mana cost.

generally speaking, the bulk of your cards should be in the middle CMC range. 2, 3, and 4's too many cards above will leave you with lots of cards you cant play until later, and too many 1 or 2 drops will leave you a little open mid game.

to "curve out" with a deck is to take advantage of your mana each turn.

playing a land and one drop on your first turn
playing a land and a two drop (or two one drops) on turn 2 and so on.

a card's curve refers to how useful the card is compared to it's CMC.

the classic example is Grizzly Bears. its 1G (one generic mana and one green mana) for a creature with power 2 and toughness 2. no abilites. this is considered on curve. you have a point of power and toughness for each mana you spent on the creature.

a creature like Suntail Hawk is above curve because for one white mana, you get a creature with 1 power and 1 toughness, but it also has flying, at one mana no less.

a creature like Storm Crow can be considered pretty good as well! it boasts 1 power and 2 toughness with flying for one generic mana and one blue mana. its technically on curve despite having only one power, because flying is a very powerful ability.

then there are cards like Invisible stalker. for the same cost of a Storm Crow you get a creature with 1 power, 1 toughness, hexproof (your opponent cant target Invisible stalker with spells) and it has a clause that says its UNBLOCKABLE.

some cards completely blow the curve out of the water, which are cards you see used in competitive play, and some cards suck the curve so hard that you dont even see them played in drafts where players have an insanely limited amount of cards to chose from.

Lmao just play Hearthstone my man

>>49394376
read the thread, theres lots of valid advice.

in terms of rules; wizards has an intro on youtube. its got cheesey acting from two college kids but its got good content, and keeps you entertained because the acting is fucking awful

>>49394004
You missed your chance to play this game while it was actually good. Just develop a crack addiction instead, should be cheaper.

Trading/collectable card games should never be sold to people outside of high school.

The entire game is sold on the premise that you can build your own deck - it's only true if you enjoy losing and wasting your money.

The first thing you need to learn is what makes a good deck. That means you have to play with good decks against good decks. Then once you understand the qualities necessary to build a good deck, you can attempt to build a deck and then test it against other good decks.

www.mtgtop8.com
Is a good resource for the top decks.

Building a deck is the end-game to your Magic career. You can't actually do it well until you get good at the game.

There are maybe 10 good deckbuilders in the world. THE WORLD. Consider that. There are plenty of people who can refine but very few who can build.

As far as learning the game goes, the best resource is one of the Magic games on the PC, Playstation or XBox.

here's two decks i made for my friends starting out. these shouldnt run more than $25 and will give casual decks a run for their money, and can probably stand a chance against competitive decks that are "fair" despite them not being standard legal. they ARE MODERN LEGAL, but probably wont get too far at a tourny. i just thought it would be useful to make them legal in a specific format for the sake of telling other players. "yeah i have a casual deck thats modern legal some chud on 4chan told be to build. " rather than " SOME FUCKING GAY BULLSHIT SOME COCK JAVELIN DEEP DICKER ON 4CHAN POSTED"

dick me down, baby.

x4 lotleth troll
x4 dreg mangler
x4 corpsejack menace
x4 veilborn ghoul
x4 slither head
x4 cultivate
x4 ghoulcaller's chant
x4 sign in blood
x2 ring of xathrid
x4 putrefy
x10 forst
x12 swamp

if you want to upgrade the deck;
-4 land and put in 4 overgrown tombs
you can also take the rings out for more removal. id suggest beast within or maelstrom pulse.

the goal of the deck is to discard zombies to lotleth troll to beef that fucker up and swing because it has trample. the deck has plenty of ways to recur the monsters you discard back to your hand or to use scavenge to put tokens on something. i have a copy of this deck myself. i love it.

>>49394647
this is very valid, but IMO its not really relevant unless you're above the FNM level.

you can homebrew and be an underdog at your local FNMs

>>49394407
It is expensive, but that's a good thing to keep the game alive. You can get back what you invest, except standard. Avoid standard. Modern and Legacy are worth it, and cards only increase in value as time goes on and more players start learning the game.

>>49394665
the second deck is a fast paced red green deck based around landfall. i havent play tested this one as much as the green black deck i posted, so it could use refining. an fun project you can take on, on your own! i love you. i'm a big hairy ape.

x4 makindi sliderunner
x4 plated geopede
x4 valakut predator
x4 grove rumbler
x4 harrow
x4 explore
x4 lightning bolt
X4 giant growth
X3 retrat to valakut
x2 blighted woodland
x4 evolving wilds
x8 forest
x11 mountain

giant growths could be something better. and if you arent a fan of the removal/damage lightning bolts you can use beast within in this deck as well.

bolts and giant growths should probably be the first cards you should look at cutting.

if you want to upgrade this deck, probably cut four basics, for stomping ground. cut evolving wilds for wooded foothills. cut one or two more basics for valakut, the molten pinnacle.

if you put in valakut, the molten pinnacle. you should probably just take out forests for stomping grounds.

investing in lands is never a bad idea as a previous anon highlighted

I think the most important thing someone new to the game needs to know is where on the web to find resources from experienced players
Youtube videos and twitch streamers are great
also check out these websites:
mtgtop8.com
decklists from high level competitve decks
mtgsalvation.com
forums for discussion about the competitive meta, tier lists (which decks are most often seen at high level play), deck techs (how to play and sideboard certain decks)
tcgplayer, starcity games, cardhoarder, mtgotrader
vendor websites that sell cards, also can give you an understanding of what cards are expensive
mtgstocks.com
gives updates about the changing prices of cards, can give you an idea what will go up or down in the future
That's all I can think of for now, but there are a wealth of websites for researching cards. Also the gatherer from wizards is great for putting together new deck ideas and searching for, say, all the elves that have been printed or every targeted removal in black

if you want to play for free instead of mtgo there is also magic workstation, cockatrice or apprentice, and there are several ways to simulate drafts online for free but they often get shut down for copyright infringement

>>49394869
I thought of a couple more good websites
channelfireball.com has articles about all kinds of things, from competitive decks and deck techs to budget builds and rogue decks (decks that aren't popular or expensive but are capable of beating high tier decks)
magicspoiler.com and mythicspoiler.com
places to find spoilers for new sets as they come out

The concept of formats are very important.

Whenever you ask for advise or look for advice try to take note of the format.

Casual is best format with pauper cube second.

>>49394785
HERES A RANDOM THIRD DECK!
id recommend this if you're brand new playing in a playgroup thats already on their feet, but not really playing competitive. this is off of the top of my head, but it'll still probably be plenty good agaisnt other casual decks

x4 delver of secrets
x4 invisible stalker
x4 augur of bolas
x2 talrand, sky summonder

x4 counterspell
X4 preordain
x4 thought scour
x4 reality shift
x3 runechanter's pike
x3 dissipate
x4 gitaxian probe

x20 island

>>49395012
100% accurate

only play in formats that don't ban any cards and allow all sets

Start with draft and sealed, work your way up to Standard. Try some homebrews - they're surprisingly effective at FNM and some can even hold their own in tournaments.

As you get into Constructed formats, you'll find the cost goes up exponentially. This is an issue depending on your budget for hobbies. You'll enjoy it for awhile, and maybe you'll eventually grow out of the competitive mindset beyond a pure power-level/mechanics standpoint. Most people who enjoy the game beyond the dick-wagging and have been playing for a long time do. I used to play Standard, Modern, and still play Legacy from time to time but I get bored of Constructed if I play too much in a short timespan.

You'll probably start running more homebrews at this point or get into casual or EDH of all power levels at that point just to explore every facet of the game, every card available, and every mechanic available. Since you've been playing for a long time, you'll have a huge quantity of cards to use or trade with so you can build whatever you want.

>>49394412
According to wizards a bundle is just a fatpack with one extra booster, why would that cause them to sell better.

If you want to play constructed (ie building your own deck) play pauper.
If there isn't a good pauper metagame in your area, build a bunch of competitive pauper decks and give them to people. This will still be cheaper than building a single decent Modern or Legacy deck, and in the long run better than playing standard.
The reason I say this is better than playing standard (for your wallet) is because in a Standard environment, your game ticket is rented, whereas in an eternal format, a ticket is more expensive, but it's actually yours.

>>49394004

>Untap
>Upkeep
>Draw

>>49395097
Daze instead of Reality shift or Scour, IMO.


>>49395445
Speaking as someone who plays pauper and legacy, pauper is a ton of fun.

>>49395440
Because it costs the same - which means for the price of nine boosters, a d20, and some lands, you get ten boosters, a d20, and some lands. Unpack the lands and sell them, sell the d20 for like a buck, and sell the boosters at retail and then you made your money back from what you would on a fatty plus an additional booster - where if you'd have bought a booster you would be making the money JUST for the booster. With the amount of new players everyone needs land so that's not hard to get rid of, and the d20 can be sold as a bulk thing on the counter very effectively.

>>49394004
I know this is gonna sound silly, but download Magic Duels and beat the story mode. After that you'll know all the fundamentals you need to.

Aside from that, yeah, always better to buy singles. But if you want the fun of a booster, don't let that stop you

Fetchlands (like flooded strand, polluted Delta, misty rainforest, scalding tarn) are expensive because they grab land types (island, forest, swamp, plains and mountains), meaning they can grab dual lands ( hallowed fountain, godless shrine, underground sea). While this info is generally useless for beginners like yourself it is worthwhile info to know why those lands are worth money.

>>49394004
I wouldn't recommend getting into this decaying ship, but I'll give you some advice from a purely financial perspective.

Don't play standard.
DO. NOT. PLAY. STANDARD.
It is a money trap as well as the worst format filled with the worst players (discounting EDH as a real format).

Don't go cracking packs like mad. Buying singles is far better in the long run on your wallet. The best way to open packs is to DRAFT THEM.
Draft also happens to be one of the richest formats. And it lets you open packs and play the new cards. And it is a good time & often available as a FMM format. And it, above all, is fucking difficult. It teaches you the basics and also teaches how to get fucking good at Magic far better than standard will.

So to emphasize:
-DON'T PLAY STANDARD
-DON'T BUY PACKS
-DRAFT INSTEAD OF THE ABOVE TWO AND YOU WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME A GOOD PLAYER AND BUILD UP A COLLECTION (buy singles if you need specific stuff)

>>49394004
Don't bother with competitive play. Find some friends who play, enjoy kitchen table shenanigans with decks you like that would never fly in a competitive setting, save money, have fun.

>>49396463
This so much Limited formats like draft are the best to learn and while you will suck hard at first you will learn alot also do/dont do the following
-Dont play competitive EDH
-Casual EDH is a very good format just for fun and to give a bit of a different flavor compared to other formats
-Standard, The Majority of Modern, & all of Legacy/Vintage is complete cancer
-Dont buy fat packs or any of those unless you are doing a draft or pre release event.
-Buying singles will save you alot of money in the short run
-If you think you have a great idea for a deck look online someone has either made a better or more refined idea of your deck idea
-spend the 13 bucks to get one of those little boxes of a variety of die you'll need them.

Know that at the competitive level, its a shitty game, played by shitty people.

Find friends who aren't cuntbags to play with casually.

File: ultimate newfags guide to mtg.png (2MB, 1874x2465px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1874x2465px

>>49394376
you're in luck I just happened to have this lying around

>>49394004
Learn the rules. No need to go and learn layers or anything. Just learn the basics and the rest will come with experience.

Don't play Standard. It is a trap for your money.
Don't play Modern. Your deck will get banned.
Don't play Legacy or Vintage. You cannot afford to.
Don't play EDH. Sheldon doesn't understand how to run a format.
Don't play Tiny Leaders. Nobody else does.

Do play Draft and other limited formats. They're the only format that is both affordable and not pay to win.
Do play 60 card casual. But only if your friends aren't the sort of cucks that would start an arms race of expensive cards.
Do expect Wizards to kill the game within the decade. It has already begun.

>>49394004

Get out now.

>>49394004
Instead of banning Affinity, Artifact Lands are banned, and basically fuck you.